Despite 'isolated cases' of violence, military says 2013 polls 'generally peaceful'

(Updated 11:11 p.m.) The military on Monday night described the May 13 midterm elections as “generally peaceful and greatly successful.” Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan said although there were “isolated cases” of violence,  these “did not totally disrupt the electoral process." “The conduct of voting nationwide was successful and secured, sans isolated cases. These however did not totally disrupt the electoral process," he said. Among the cases reported on Election Day were the shooting of the vehicle carrying Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Manuel Mamba in Alcala town in Cayagan province. Mamba's brother, William, is running for governor in the province under the Aquino-led Liberal Party. He was unhurt in the shooting. Meanwhile, on the eve of the elections, the Philippine National Police arrested three armed men in the coastal town of in Dinagat Islands, party-list Akbayan said in a statement. According to the statement, police confiscated a baby armalite containing four magazines and 95 ammunition that were later traced to be registered to re-electionist vice mayor in Dinagat Islands. Police also retrieved cash worth P132,000 and a paper note containing the bank account number of the re-electionist candidate. In Tondo, Manila, 14 men were arrested after they were caught inside a polling precinct with guns in one of their backpacks. The men claimed to be members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). In Maguindanao province in Mindanao, Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said unidentified armed men fired gunshots near a polling center at Kalian village in Mangudadatu town at 3:40 p.m. The incident stopped the voting, he said, adding the board of election inspectors and the  election paraphernalia, along with their escorts, were moved to a nearby militia detachment "for their safety." He said the election inspectors and the election paraphernalia were later fetched by elite Army Special Forces soldiers on board an airboat. "At 1750H (5:50 pm), the BEIs and their military and police escorts arrived at Mangudadatu Election Office safely," said Hermoso. Tutaan said the military will remain vigilant during this post-election period until the whole process is completed. Sumisip Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections retracted its earlier report that a member of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) was killed in Sumisip town, Basilan, but did confirm that there had been an attempt to steal a precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine there. An earlier report said unidentified men tried to snatch a precinct optical scan (PCOS) machine in Sumisip town at around 10:30 a.m. The incident occurred in Barangay Buli-Buli, but PNP provincial director Senior Supt. Mario Dapilloza said police and military forces were able to recover the machine, which the thieves abandoned when they were cornered., Dapilloza also reported another incident in Mohammad Ajul, where another group of men snatched several election paraphernalia at about 1 p.m., Sulu Meanwhile, a supporter of Panglima Estino town mayoral candidate Munib Estino was killed in Sulu, while four others were wounded, when they were attacked by an armed group Monday morning, said GMA News reporter Chino Gaston. The wounded supporters were rushed to the Sulu Integrated Provincial Hospital. Meanwhile, military units had rushed to the area to de-escalate the tension there. Meanwhile, tension gripped Tongkil town when a firefight erupted between the group of mayoral candidate Hadji Abdullajid Alih and Sulu gubernatorial candidate and incumbent Mayor Wahid Sahidullah, Gaston aslo reported., Military personnel were deployed in the area to contain the situation. In Omar town, some PCOS machines were damaged and ballots were splashed with water in an attack on a polling precinct there. — with Amanda Fernandez/DVM/KBK, GMA News